Incineration Festival – Camden Town, London – 2nd May 2026
KEEPING UP THE TRADITION
As has become tradition on the first Saturday in May, Camden Town was the host for the indomitable Incineration Festival. As with previous years, the festival brought an enviable bill of some of the best that the extreme music underground has to offer, performing across several venues in Camden, ranging from the intimate confines of The Dev and The Black Heart to The Underworld and The Electric Ballroom, as well as the bigger Roundhouse venue. The only problem is that the programme is too good and tough choices have to be made as there are countless clashes, and the smaller venues in particular quickly reach capacity but this is a mark of how impressive the line up is!
As the start time approached, there was an interesting culture clash in a sunny Camden Town as jovial tourists, street hustlers and eccentric bohemians rubbed shoulders with the black clad hordes sporting indecipherable logos as they picked up their wrist bands and enjoyed the general convivial ambiance. However, word soon spread that Denmark’s Afksy, who were due to open the Electric Ballroom stage, had pulled out due to illness. They had been expected be one of the highlights of the day so it was a little disappointing, but this simply meant that it was possible to check out another band.
AT THE BLACK HEART…
With this in mind I headed to the Black Heart, grabbed a pint of Incineration pilsner and waited for the doors to the upstairs venue to open and before long I was being pummelled by True Northern Extreme Metal, courtesy of Sunderland’s Yersin. Taking to the stage with no frills and opening with Mouths Like Open Graves, the three piece set about battering the packed room with their bleak battery and before too long, the vocalist was in the crowd mixing it up with the front rows. Bringing elements of thrash, death, grind and crust to proceedings this was exactly what was needed to blow away the cobwebs for those that had made it into the room, with many more being forced to listen from the stairs leading to the room which had quickly reached capacity.
OLD SCHOOL DEATH METAL
I hotfooted it from the Black Heart to the infamous Underworld venue where London’s Mutagenic Host took things in another direction with their old school death metal. Glorious chugging riffs and grooves got the absolutely packed crowd moving as S.W.A.R.M led into Grotesque Union and the dense wall of brutality was lapped up by the faithful down the front who opened an enthusiastic pit.
ATMOSPHERIC BLACK METAL
There was no time to reflect, or recover, as Germany’s Der Weg Einer Freiheit opened the festival at the Electric Ballroom giving us a dose of atmospheric black metal. Bringing a more polished edge to the genre, the band delivered their flawless, crushing soundscapes to the capital. There was a feeling of desperation within their mammoth hymns as blast beats, harsh vocals and epic melodies swirled around the Ballroom. Playing mostly as silhouettes in dense red lighting brought an intensity to the finesse as the short set flew by reinforcing the band’s position as leaders in this genre.
OPENING THE ROUNDHOUSE
Down the road, Grave Miasma opened proceedings at the Roundhouse, delivering a set of nasty, barbaric blackened death metal “from down the road”..Although the band might be more akin to playing intimate venues, they were not perturbed by the illustrious, cavernous Roundhouse and their dense, murky anthems soon filled every (metaphorical!) corner. The modest but ever expanding crowd were a little muted initially, but as tracks such as Purgative Circumvolution built, a malevolent atmosphere which took over the venue and the crowd responded enthusiastically.
BLACK ‘N’ ROLL
Back at the Electric Ballroom, there was another variant of black metal as Vreid brought their immediately recognisable Sognametal to London. Perhaps a little more accessible than the bands that had come before, Vreid nonetheless delivered their own brand of intensity with a set of distinctive black ’n roll. The set was heralded by sirens over the PA before the Norwegians took to the stage with minimal lighting and the mesmerising Pitch Black was soon rollicking its way around the packed room.
A massive rendition of the title track of the latest album, The Skies Turn Black, followed, in tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, keeping the momentum going. As the tracks passed, magnificent sweeping soundscapes combined effortlessly with haunting melodies, not least on the hypnotic Into the Mountains as the short but epic set built into something truly special. Let’s hope for a full headline tour before long.
UTTERLY RELENTLESS
Having stayed to the end of the Vreid set, the queue to get in to see the highly anticipated Of Feather and Bone at the Underworld absolutely huge, and so suspecting the venue had reached capacity, I cut my losses and found a spot ready for the legendary Vomitory.
Their set was direct, claustrophobic and utterly relentless old school death metal with crushing riffs and guttural vocals creating an oppressive, dense atmosphere which kept the pit moving from start to finish. Wrath Unbound sounded huge with its pummelling dense grooves which rumbled around the venue and I found myself reflecting that they are more aggressive than I recall them being previously, which was reiterated on an obliterating rendition of Chaos Fury which closed a set of glorious, brutal, crushing death metal.
A LESSON IN CRUSHING INTENSITY
Staying in the Electric Ballroom, things took a more sinister turn as Dragged Into Sunlight delivered a lesson in crushing intensity with their nihilistic blackened death metal. Having levelled Manchester the night before, there was a nervous anticipation in the room long before a note had been played. An ornate candelabra-esque piece, garnered with candles, skulls and a display of bones was placed centre stage and would be the focal point for the show where the band played as silhouettes, predominantly with their backs to the crowd and barely visible in intense white strobe backlights
The heavy smell of incense filled the room as white noise rang out from the speakers before the band finally appeared and unleashed their soundtrack to Armageddon. There was no crowd interaction, letting the music speak for itself as their weighty tomes created an uneasy, overwhelming density that twisted itself uncomfortably around the crowd. News reels and spoken word sections added a further ominous, malevolence to the performance as a violent pit brought the music to life.
This was disconcerting and disorientating at the same time and it was an all encompassing fully immersive experience that it was impossible to take your eyes (or ears) off for one’s second. This was simply stunning and without doubt, one of my highlights of the whole festival.
MORE OLD SCHOOL
Thankfully a fifteen minute walk to the Roundhouse gave a little time to reset the barometer ready for more death metal, this time courtesy of Grave, who had promised an “old school Corpse and Grave” set – of course, the band started out under the name Corpse back in 1986 before changing to Grave in 1988 where they became established as bludgeoning stalwarts of the Swedish death metal scene.
Opening the set with early Grave tracks Into The Grave, Day Of Mourning and Morbid Way To Die the band kept their promise and delivered an old school set the band covering early Grave and Corpse material. The tracks all sounded massive, and the band gave it their all (including pyros), but somehow the brutality got a little lost in the cavernous Roundhouse and the gnarly classics didn’t quite have the same impact as when they are aired in more intimate surroundings. Nonetheless, this was still a celebration of Grave, as well as old school death metal in more general terms, as they unleashed a barrage of monumental low tuned death metal to the crowd who lapped it up.
FIELDS OF FIRE
It fell to fellow Swedes Hypocrisy to bring things to a close at the Electric Ballroom and they delivered a stunning headline set of their distinctive melodic death metal. Peter Tägtgren was, as ever, an accomplished conductor as he led from the front while encouraging the energetic crowd who opened a decent pit in response to the set which covered a fair chunk of the band’s extensive discography.
Low level screens on the stage had the band performing in a virtual field of fire and electricity adding to the overall impact of the band. I’m not sure whether it was the energy in the room or the effect of playing alongside so many of their peers bringing out a competitive edge, but Hypocrisy sounded absolutely massive, much heavier than I recalled. There was a refinement to their set, but this was dense, claustrophobic, unwavering and simply pummelling. Absolutely magnificent.
A WHO’S WHO OF BLACK METAL
There was then a mass exodus to the Roundhouse to catch Blood Fire Death and what promised to be a truly special set as a tribute to Quorthon and Bathory performed by a veritable who’s who of black metal. The “core” band was made up of Erik Danielsson (Watain), Ivar Bjørnson (Enslaved), Blasphemer (Vltimas, ex-Mayhem), Apollyon (Aura Noir), Faust (Djevel, ex-Emperor). These were joined by Grutle Kjellson (Enslaved), Gaahl (Trelldom, ex-Gorgoroth), Attila Csihar (Mayhem and Tormentor) and Frederick Melander (ex-Bathory) for various tracks.
The set opened with A Fine Day To Die and Gaahl at the helm, prowling the front of the stage with his trademark menace, as he glared at the front rows. Erik Danielsson took over for Enter the Eternal Fire with the first of many blasts of pyros that would add impact to the set. Erik remained on vocals during For All Those Who Died before handing the mic to Apollyon for Sadist and The Rite of Darkness. Grutle took over for Call From The Grave and then it was back to Atilla for Born For Burning.
ONE FOR THE BATHORY LADIES
It struck me that although the band were delivering fairly faithful covers of these tracks, each vocalist was bringing their own spin on things and it sounded amazing! Apollyon led the charge once again for Under the Runes before the baton went back to Erik who remained at the helm for the rest of the show. There was an emotional moment when Frederick Melander (original Bathory bassist) was invited to the stage and played on The Return of Darkness and Evil and Sacrifice. Erik Danielsson looked emotional as he led the tribute to Quorthorn and Bathory and at one point towards the end of the set, he knelt down in front of the Quorthorn backdrop. Erik dedicated Woman Of Dark Desires to the “Bathory ladies” in the room, before Atilla joined him for dual vocals before the set came to a close with the inevitable, epic, monumental, irrepressible Blood Fire Death complete with a sparkler waterfall from above the stage.
Understandably, there was a lot of emotion in the room during the set with many fans hearing many of these tracks live for the first time, and being performed by such venerated figures from within the scene added to the poignancy. This had been something very special and will long be remembered as far more than just a gig. This was history being remembered and also history being made.
MATTERS RECTIFIED
Bathory are a vital part of the history of our scene, and yet to many fans of the genre, they are tragically simply a footnote in the history books. This event, and other similar shows, are rectifying this matter, ensuring that Quorthorn and Bathory are fully remembered as founding fathers of Black Metal and are keeping the legacy alive. Long may this continue.
With that, another chapter of Incineration was over. It had absolutely flown by, every single band that I saw was fantastic, the crowd were in good form and the organisation was absolutely flawless. Thank you to everyone involved, and we are already looking forward to next year!
All photography by Andy Pountney (Event Photography Awards Winner 2024 and 2025). You can check out more of his work on shot_in_the_dark_photography2 on Instagram.
Incineration Festival: Website